Alibaba • Statistics for January

January: Winter Power, Trade-Wind Texture

January sits squarely in the heart of the Cape Verdean winter. The average swell height runs a solid 7.5ft (2.3m) with a long-period 11.6s pulse, and the swell rose is dominated by NNE (26.5%), NNW (22.4%) and N (10.1%) swell. For a southwest-facing spot like Alibaba, this is a mixed blessing: the ideal SSW-SW/W window is virtually absent, so most of the energy arrives from the north and has to wrap around the island's flanks before it hits the beach. When the refraction lines up, the outer reefs can feel powerful and hold up well, but on the wrong tide or in shadowed areas it can stay smaller and messier than the numbers suggest.

Wind-wise, the NE trade wind is in full control, blowing from the NE 59.5% of the time and from the ENE 18.8%, with frequent speeds in the 20-40kph bracket. These directions are actually offshore at Alibaba, which keeps the faces reasonably clean, but only 11% of the time do winds drop into the truly clean, manageable range. Expect lumpy trade texture mixed with strong groundswell, especially when the Azores High cranks up and the North Atlantic storm track feeds long-period N/NNW energy toward the islands. Water temperature is 22.9°C, air hovers around 22.0°C, and rainfall is light at 0.69mm/day.